A Game Of Hide And Seek
by Memoriator
Summary: All these years of concealment and things aren't looking any better. On a night when Elsa finds sleep too evasive, she decides to go down to the ball room and relive a past she knows she cannot change. What she did to Anna weighs heavy on her, will things ever get better? Anna seems to think so when she sees this as a golden opportunity to be reunited with her sister.


Random short-story

A game of hid and seek

That sky, Elsa could understand why her sister always had problems going to sleep. She rolled on her side, trying to ignore the moonlight's glare. Usually there would be curtains at that window but they had to be taken down today, Elsa's curse had acted up again. All she did was touch them and in an instant they froze sold, she tried to stop the ice spreading but the more she worked against her powers, the deeper into the fabric the frost travelled. _Serves me wright for talking my gloves off_ , she thought to herself. So until tomorrow she would have to deal with the moonlight bouncing around the shiny features of her bedroom.

Her bed didn't feel comfortable; she didn't feel comfortable. Not with herself and certainly not with her curse. Can image flashed through her vision, a bolt of magic shooting from her hand and striking a falling Anna in the forehead. She couldn't help but wince at that memory. She missed her sister, oh how she wished to just leave that door unlocked for a day and for once not answer her pleads with a heart breaking phrase like "go away."

Her sheets felt itchy all of a sudden and she didn't want to be wrapped in them any longer. Elsa pushed them away and sat up, even in bed she had to wear those dame gloves. Every hour of every day of every week of every month for the past several years. She figured that by teenage hood she'd have a grip on her powers and that things could go back to how they were. Yesterday's outbreak confirmed otherwise.

She was out of her bed now, the wood floor felt cold on her bare feet, not that it bothered her. In a sickening way it was actually comforting. She walked over to her window, another night she would be spending with the moonlight being her only company. Mother and Father had left on a voyage a few days ago, Elsa really didn't want them to go but they said it was argent and that things would apparently get better when they returned.

She had read an interesting book today, one that told a nice little fantasy of a worrier princess who rode on a griffins back. There was one line in the text that she particularly liked. When the worrier rode on her mythical creature for the first time, "I am one with the wind and sky," was how she described her experience. Maybe one day Elsa would feel as free as that warrior in the book did. If that time would ever come, shed being singing that phrase from the mountain tops. Unless of course she ever met a griffin, then she'd prefer to sing on the back of that.

Elsa turned around to her door, walking over and striating out her night gown. She didn't wear one to avoid being cold but rather to simulate what it would be like to be warm. Her gloved hand was on her door handle, the clicking noise of the locks inner-workings rang through the room and maybe beyond. _Hopefully Anna didn't hear that._ She slept out into the corridor, never any servant about at this time or many other times to be honest. Gerda and Kai would be around thought the day, the only other people other than her parents that knew about her powers. Another pair of people obsessed with telling her that things will get better.

Elsa followed the corridors, where the floor is marble and slippery. She could often here Anna outside her door sliding about, shouting about how much fun she was having that Elsa should open the door and join in. At times like those it was easier just to not answer and wait for Anna to give up, inevitable she would only retreat to think up another plan that could get Elsa to open up.

Elsa was approaching the ball room. That was where it happened, where that flashback she tried so hard to suppress originated from. In the day, the windows would all be cover up in this part of the Palace, father didn't want prying eyes catching wind of Elsa's powers in case of an outbreak. She had been telling Elsa a lot lately that when she is queen, the responsibility of what she does with her magic will fall to her. Elsa hatted the idea of that, running a kingdom and keeping such a massive secret. And what about Anna? She won't want to stay trapped in the palace forever. Maybe Elsa should just leave Arrindell all together one day. There must be other people out there that have powers like her, she needed someone to help her through all this, someone who would truly understand her position. Let Anna be the queen, she could live happy with the gates held open by royal decree that way.

The ball room had so much space, it was always the best place to let flurries fly when Elsa was little. Not anymore. Not when she looked over to that spot where she held Anna in her arms and felt the warmth from her body fading. Elsa found herself sit on the floor and just ponder about how things could had gone differently. If Anna listened to her and slowed down or if Elsa could had responded faster. If only she could go back to that moment and change what happened. But even magic can only do so much.

"Elsa?" A voice echoed.

Elsa's head snapped to the voice, nobody was at the doorway but she could here footsteps approaching. It was Anna, she must have heard her sobbing. Elsa didn't hesitate, she got up and dashed for a hiding spot. One of the giant curtains of red silk would do and this time she would keep her gloves firmly on.

"There you are!" Anna exclaimed as she jumped into the room with a pointed finger. But all she pointed at was air, "Where are you? I know you're down here because your door was left open."

Elsa managed a crooked smile, at least she finally managed to leave her door unlocked for a change.

Anna took a few steps further into the ball room, scanning about the supposedly empty space. "Oh I get it, you want to play hide and seek. Well if that's what you fancied doing, you could had said when I knocked this morning." She peaked behind one of the knight armours, "I know I can be a little intense at times so I am sorry if I didn't give you a chance to talk."

Elsa looked out from her hiding spot, trying to find a route that could get her out of here. Anna had her backed turned, she was moving about in some pink pyjamas, fortunate that they reflected the few bars of stray moonlight so well or Elsa probably wouldn't had be able to spot her. She wanted to run out and hug her, to tell her everything about her curse and why the separation had to happen for her own good.

"Okay so you're still not in the mood for speaking," Anna's perky voice rang, "that's okay, you just don't want to give away your hiding spot." She started checking inside the knight armour only to still find nothing. "I'll admit it's a good one. But you just wait until it's my turn."

Anna had moved even further away now, this was Elsa's best chance at getting out of the ball room. She went for it, darting out from behind the curtain for the doorway, her feet made a lot more nose on the marble floor than she predicted.

"Ah ha," Anna called out. Elsa was already running up the spiralling stairs but she could tell that Anna was not too far behind. Her body wanted to stop running so very badly but she had made a promise to never put Anna at risk again. Until this curse is dealt with, the separation would have to continue.

"I am coming Elsa!" The two were still too far apart for either of them to make visual contact with one another but the footsteps undoubtable confirmed that Anna was in hot pursuit. Elsa got to the top of the stairs, her bedroom was visible, the door wide open. She ran in and turned around to close the door. That's when the blue eyes of both sisters met one another for the first time in too many years. Anna froze, Elsa froze as they both just stared at one another. Anna saw Elsa's hand on the door handle and was mouthing the words "please don't."

The image of her sister was blurring, tears where starting to rend Elsa's vision. It took all of her strength to slam that door shut. For the rest of the night she still wouldn't sleep, the sound of knock after knock saw to that.


End file.
